


Keep You Like An Oath

by loonyBibliophile



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Step-siblings, Underage Drinking, demisexual Dirk Strider, mentions of eating disoders and mental illnesses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-22 15:22:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3733801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyBibliophile/pseuds/loonyBibliophile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone who's ever read a gossip column knows the Strilonde step-siblings famous rivalry. What they don't know is that the whole thing is just an act, and at the end of the day Roxy Lalonde and Dirk Strider wouldn't know what to do without each other. And as complicated as things might be, they just might be a little bit in love</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. don't you know that the kids aren't alright?

Roxy meets Dirk at 13 years old in a state mandated therapy group. She notices him because he’s the only one who isn’t staring at her. Or he might be staring, but she’d never know because he’s wearing the most ridiculous sun glasses she’s ever seen. Crafting a carefully careless expression, she blows a cherry scented bubblegum bubble, checks her lipstick using the reflection in his sunglasses, and flops into the chair beside him. At least as much as a person on crutches can flop, that is. He doesn’t say anything, simply inclines his in a nod, pulls out his phone, and turns it off. 

Dirk side eyes the new girl from behind his shades, taking in the too old for her age way she dressed and the crutches covered in pink ribbons and the ridiculous black lipstick. When she sits beside him, he mentally shrugs, thankful that at least he’s flanked on either side by people at this point, so no one overly cheerful or smelly can sit directly next to him. The girl blows another bubble and he watches from the corner of his eye as she spins halfway towards him and sticks out a hand. Her knuckles are bruised and there are stitches on the back of her hand, but each of her nails is perfectly manicured, long, and sparkling with pink glitter. 

“Hey. I’m Roxy.” she arches an eyebrow at him, waiting for his hand. Hesitantly, he extends one, leather gloves with no fingers covered scarred palms but showing off his scraped knuckles. He shakes her hand. 

“Dirk." 

"What’d you do?”

“Brought a sword to school. Got stuck in this bullshit as a ‘warning’” he makes air quotes around the word, and she thinks he might be sneering, but she isn’t sure because she can only see half his face. The tenor of his voice is even and unflinching, completely noninflected. “You?”

“Got in a fight. Coulda done juvie but it was self defense and my mother pulled a few strings.” she rolled her eyes.

“Who’s your mom?”

“My last name’s Lalonde.” she says in lieu of a more direct answer. Dirk lets out a low whistle. She rolls her eyes again. “Shut the fuck up, I’d bet you at least fifty bucks you’re a Strider. Your brother owns half this town, don’t give me any shit about my mother." 

"I didn’t say anything.” he throws his hands up in mock surrender and she thinks he might be smirking, just a little.   

Their conversation is interrupted when the facilitator sits down, and the banter of the various children of Hollywood’s elite, all sitting in the basement of a fancy rehab center for getting into the kind of trouble people want to hush up, clams up fast. it is, without a doubt, one of the most boring hours of Roxy Lalonde’s entire life.

“So does Mother Lalonde pick you up in person?” Dirk saunters over to her after the group and leans against the wall Roxy has chosen to set up camp by, a pack of cigarettes acquired from god knows where half open in her hands. She snorts. 

“Yeah fuckin’ right. I called a car service.” she takes on a mockingly posh voice as she drawls the word 'car service’, and slows out a perfectly formed smoke ring.  

“Ouch." 

"Eh, she’s not all bad just… absent.” Roxy shrugs her shoulders and stubs out the half smoked cigarette, dropping it in the nearby trash can before jumping delicately onto the railing behind her and perching on it. “Why’d you take a sword to school anyway?”

“Honestly? I forgot I had it." 

"Oh my god. Amazing.”

“Shut up. Why’d you get in a fight?”

“Dude pulled down my shirt so I kicked him in the balls and he didn’t take the hint and wrestled me to the ground. I beat the shit outta him but man he was big. Hence. Ya know.” she waved a hand to the crutches and various bruises on her arms. 

“Nice. The beating him up thing, not the… other thing." 

"I figured. Don’t worry.” she gave him a smile that was half genuine, half smirk, and he does something he sort of thinks he might regret later. 

“Wanna hang out?”

“Oh hell yeah, my house is boring as shit." 

"Cool.”


	2. i'd do it all again (i think you're my best friend)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This was a terrible idea.” Roxy says, groaning slightly and staring out of the tinted windows of the restaurant. 
> 
> “Inarguably. Do they look like they’re leaving any time soon?” Dirk grimaced, pushing his shades up further, and put his dad’s credit card under the bill. 
> 
> “Nuh uh.” Roxy let out an exasperated sigh

-Two years later-

 

“This was a terrible idea.” Roxy says, groaning slightly and staring out of the tinted windows of the restaurant. 

“Inarguably. Do they look like they’re leaving any time soon?” Dirk grimaced, pushing his shades up further, and put his dad’s credit card under the bill. 

“Nuh uh.” Roxy let out an exasperated sigh and slid her thumb along her plate, picking up the last shreds of whipped cream from her dessert. 

“So do we just make a run for it?” 

“I guess so. This is so fucking lame. Why do they even care? We’re not famous, just our parents.”

“They probably want to ask about the wedding. Plus, don’t lie Rox, you have a bit of a tabloid rep.” 

“Ugh, shut up.”

“So we leave, attempt to sneak away, if all else fails, we bolt to the nearest building and call a car?”

“I don’t have a better plan.” Roxy shrugged and took the recent the waiter had left and scribbled the tip down. 

Their newly wed parents were off on their honeymoon, leaving their two teenaged children alone for a few weeks with their run of the various Strider-Lalonde properties. Mostly, they’d stuck to hanging out in the Strider Hollywood Hills mansion, but tonight they’d decided they wanted to go out for dinner, but upon seeing the mass of paparazzi that had managed to find them, they were very much regretting that choice. 

As soon as they left the door, sneaking was out of the realm of possibility. The paparazzi swarmed them and started yelling questions. Where were their parents honeymooning? How was the wedding? Who was there? Are either of you seeing anyone? Watching as the crowded conditions quickly started to make Roxy shut down, Dirk grabbed her wrist and pulled, and she tumbled forward after him until they both fell into a sprint, running hand in hand until they reached an empty alleyway with an unlocked door leading to a dark room. Panting and laughing, they pushed themselves through, startling a security guard. He started to yell and Roxy put her hand up, signaling him to wait a second. 

“Please. Just let us wait here a bit. We need to call a car. We’ll pay you.” Roxy wiped sweat from her forehead, leaning against the wall. She looked around, taking in their surroundings. They were in some sort of museum. The guard, suddenly realizing exactly who had accidentally broken in after hours, shrugged and nodded, so Roxy pressed a handful of twenties into his hand and then patted his shoulder, slumping onto the floor, followed by Dirk. Ruffling his hair, he pulled out is phone and flicked through his contacts for the car service they always used. 

“Well that was the worst.” Roxy said, still catching her breath. Dirk finished typing and nodded, leaning his head back and pushed up his shades into his hair. 

“Basically.” 

“They have to cool off sometimes right?”

“Probably.”

“Ugh.” Roxy groaned and pulled a piece of cherry gum from a pack in her purse and blew a disgruntled bubble. 

“Maybe we should spend the rest of the month upstate at one of your places. Probably less shit up north.” 

“We could go to the Hamptoms.” 

“I don’t think we’re old enough to charter the family plane, Ro.” 

“Mm, true. Tahoe lake house maybe?”

“Yeah. Much quieter.” 

The next morning, the pair of best friends and step siblings packed a couple suit cases in preparation for spending the next few weeks in Tahoe, enjoying the peace and quiet. Dirk was sorting his toiletries, while Roxy tapped away on her phone, sitting on the edge of his bed while she arranged for the house to be stocked when they got up there. Before she finished packing, she idly scrolled a few news sites, rolling her eyes and when she came upon one particular story. 

“Hey Dirky! Someone managed to snap some footage of our daring escape last night. Listen to this.” she cleared her throat and sat up straighter “’Late last night, the newly minted step children of Hollywood’s Royal Family, the Strider-Lalondes, shared a dinner table at a bistro in the Hills. After dinner, our photographers caught them bolting hand in hand from the restaurant, and escaping into a darkened building a few blocks away. Rumor has it, Dirk Strider is gay as they come, but could a romance be brewing between these old friends turned step-siblings?’”

“Jesus fucking christ.” Dirk groaned from his open bathroom. 

“Well, I guess now’s the time to disspell that once we get back here.”

“We could pretend to get in a fight and act like we hate each other?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” 

“Cool. You ready Rox?”

“Whenever you are Dirky-Dirk.”


	3. you are my best i'll never know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The room is dark, but for the pulsing lights hanging from the ceiling. Dirk leaned, frowning deeply, against the only wall that was both close to the door and in view of the low tables by the bar. Technically he wasn’t old enough to be in this club, neither was Roxy, but between her last name and her looks, Roxy could go pretty much anywhere she wanted. And where Roxy went, Dirk went. Especially clubs, even though he hated them. Somebody had to look after her after all.

**-Three years later-**

The room is dark, but for the pulsing lights hanging from the ceiling. Dirk leaned, frowning deeply, against the only wall that was both close to the door and in view of the low tables by the bar. Technically he wasn’t old enough to be in this club, neither was Roxy, but between her last name and her looks, Roxy could go pretty much anywhere she wanted. And where Roxy went, Dirk went. Especially clubs, even though he hated them. Somebody had to look after her after all. 

Of course, that wasn’t how the papers reported it. Every Monday a new article came out, about how party girl Roxy Lalonde dragged her very responsible newly minted step-brother Dirk Strider out to clubs, forcing him to be her baby sitter. Ever since their parents had gotten married the year before, they’d become the step children of Hollywood’s new ‘royal family’. Dirk found the whole thing nauseating. Roxy just thought it was funny. 

 Dirk’s eyes drifted over to where Roxy stood on the table, a technically illegal martini in her hand, her hips drifting from side to side as she laughed loudly. Sitting below her was her current sort of boyfriend, indie rock’s favorite bad boy with a heart of gold Cronus Ampora. If you asked Dirk, that heart of gold was nowhere to be found, but papers will say what they want. 

Roxy glanced down when Cronus put his hands on her thighs, and she beamed, quickly slipping off the table and into his lap. She kissed his cheek, smudging him with dark lipstick, and he played with the straps of her tank top. Dirk watched carefully as he whispered something in her ear, and silently crooked an eyebrow. She frowned and shook her head, looking stern but apologetic. He could see Cronus roll his eyes and cross his arms, though he softened slightly when Roxy planted a kiss on him before standing up more gracefully than any drunk person had any right to be, and walking over to Dirk. He couldn’t explain the strange smugness he felt as she stood next to him if he tried. 

“Ready to go?” she arched an eyebrow and pulled a pack of gum from the impossibly tight pocket on her pink leather skirt. She placed a square of the same cherry bubblegum she was chewing the day they met on her tongue and smacked it a few times, grinning when she could see him grimace at the noise. 

“Not going home with Ampora?" 

"Nah, I don’t feel like dealing with him trying to fuck me all night. Much rather go home to the stupidly large mansion our 'co parents’ own” she rolled her eyes heavily, in case the air quotes hadn’t been enough “and sleep in my gay step-brother’s bed where I don’t have to fear for the safety of my boobs." 

"Not gay. Just prefers boys. I know you’re drunk Rox, but come on.” Dirk rolled his eyes. Maybe. Roxy wasn’t sure, she was never as good at reading him with a few drinks in her. 

"I know I knoooow, I’m sorry okay? Forgive me?” she stuck out her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes. Dirk sighed, but then nodded.  

“Yeah yeah, whatever." 

"Alright, then let’s get the fuck out of here. Remember to look like you really hate me.” she grinned and winked. 

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard.” his voice was totally flat, and Roxy rolled her eyes and shoved him once, before extending an elbow so Dirk could 'drag’ her from the club. They were greeted with a burst of flashbulbs, and Dirk pulled Roxy in front of him and pushed her towards the cab stand, so none of the paparazzi could try and take a shot from up her skirt. 

“You okay?” he asked when they collapsed into the backseat. Roxy made a face, but nodded. 

“Fuckin’ hate those guys. Always gotta be some loud ass bright ass crowd for me to wade through.”

“I know. It’s better than when they thought we got along though.” 

“When they thought we were dating, you mean.” 

“That too.”  

It took nearly an hour for the car to crawl through the late night Hollywood traffic back to the silent and dark Hollywood Hills mansion the Strider-Lalonde family usually lived in. Roxy dropped her bag and heels by the door and vanished without a word to the bathroom, and the shower turned on loudly. After awhile it shut off, and a few minutes later Roxy emerged from the bathroom, face clean of makeup and her hair hanging in damp waves to her chin. She’d swapped her club clothes for a pair of shorts and knit thigh highs, and a baggy shirt Dirk thought might have been his.   

Dirk was laying on the sofa, back straight against the arm and his legs thrown sideways. Roxy padded over wordlessly, and he rearranged his legs so she could flop down between them and watch his phone with him. 

“Why do you even like that dick bag so much?” Dirk nodded at his screen, where the many instagram posts Cronus had made of himself and Roxy had already garnered attention on gossip sites. 

“He’s nice to me." 

"He’s a creep, Rox.”

“I dunno. He makes me feel special. After all, between you and English I need to hang around at least one dude who thinks I’m attractive.” she leans her head back and sticks out her tongue. On some level, she knew Cronus Ampora was probably bad news. But other than being  a bit of a letch, and one Roxy could easily fend off, he was nice.  He lit her cigarettes for her, and he understood all her Breakfast at Tiffany's references, and he told her she was pretty. It was nice. 

“Well when you get tired of him, feel free to ask me to beat the living daylights out of him, because I would do so. With relish.”

“And mustard?”

“Roxy, that’s not what that expression means." 

"I know. I just like fucking with you.” she grinned up at him and pushed his stupid sunglasses into his hair, mussing the perfectly gelled spikes. “Wanna go to bed?”

“Yeah, sure. Come on." 

The sleeping together thing had been an accident. Dirk had insomnia and almost never slept, and he’d heard Roxy crying in her sleep one night and woken her up. Eventually, she’d managed to explain her medication gave her weird dreams sometimes, and if she’d been drinking and couldn’t take her meds, she’d still have nightmares. So he’d done the only thing he could think to, and told her to come lay down with him until she could fall asleep again. And before he noticed, it was morning, and Roxy’s head was pillowed on his chest, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so much, or so soundly, and she looked so quiet and peaceful. And the habit has just stuck. If his brother or her mom were bothered by it, they weren’t home enough to say anything. Roxy didn’t think they’d even noticed. Dirk couldn’t really find it in himself to disagree. They didn’t notice much. 

“Hey, Dirky?” Roxy asked, her voice quiet, as they shuffled their way under Dirk’s covers.

“What’s up, Rox?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Just in general.” she shrugged. “I know I’m a pain. With the drinking and anxiety and dumb boyfriends and stuff.” 

“Yeah well, I’m kind of a pain too. So I guess we’re even.” he takes his shades off and lets her see a little of a smile before he lays down, out of her field of vision. 

“Yeah, I guess we are.” her voice is a whisper, and he can hear the smile in her voice same as he can feel it stretch against his chest. 

“Get some sleep, Rox. Or else your hangover will be even worse tomorrow.” 

“Night, asshole.” she mumbled affectionately into his neck. 


	4. you know i give my love a four letter name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Roxy, please. Just come home." he tugged at her elbow and she shoved him, hard, dropping her drink in the process. She stilled, staring down at the broken glass and then storming away, teetering dangerously in her ankle breaking heels. Dirk chased after her. 
> 
> "Where the fuck are you going?"
> 
> "What do you fucking care?"

"Come on Roxy! We're leaving!" Dirk shouted over the pounding music of the club. Roxy shook her head, the movement sloshing her cocktail slightly. 

"No!" 

"Yes! You're fucking trashed, we've been here for hours, and that dickbag who just dumped you has been staring at you for an hour. We're fucking leaving, and we're leaving now."

"If you wanna fuckin' leave, leave! I'm just fine here, thank you verrrrry much!" 

"Roxy, please. Just come home." he tugged at her elbow and she shoved him, hard, dropping her drink in the process. She stilled, staring down at the broken glass and then storming away, teetering dangerously in her ankle breaking heels. Dirk chased after her. 

"Where the fuck are you going?"

"What do you fucking care?"

"Roxy, god damn it, stop running!" 

Roxy didn't say anything, choosing to slip into the unisex bathroom at the back of the club. Dirk sighed, rolling his neck and watching the door. When the 'vacant' sign failed to switch to 'occupied', he flung the door open after her. Roxy had folded her self up on the ground, her shoes pulled off and flung across the room. She had her arms wrapped around her knees and her face hidden in knobby legs and curled hair. He took a deep breath and locked the bathroom door, taking a moment to pace anxiously and think before speaking. 

“You’ve got to stop pulling shit like this, Roxy.” Dirk ran his hands through his hair, a barely imperceptible twitch to his wrist muscles masked by the movement. 

“Why? Who the fuck even cares? Certainly not dear old mommy and step daddy. Tell me, Dirk, when was the last time you even saw your brother?” She snorted, a small and bitter noise, and looked up at him from where she’d slumped against the bathroom wall. Her eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with darkness, both from her smudged eye makeup and heavy dark circles. The angle threw the bones of her ribs, visible under her skin and through the sheer material of her shirt, into sharp relief, and they looked like they might cut through her skin. it made his chest hurt to look at. 

“Who cares? Who do you think cares?!” he shoved his hands into his pockets to resist the urge to punctuate his words by banging on the hard porcelain of the sink. he breathed out through his nose, a harsh sound, and lowered himself onto the ground beside her. 

“Obviously if I’m asking, I don’t know.” her voice was bitter, when she looked back at him her eyes weren’t angry, but cold. She inched back, folding herself up against the wall even further so their knees wouldn’t touch. Dirk winced visibly and rubbed at the back of his neck. He wanted to reach out for her, but couldn't do it in good faith after she physically pulled away from him like that. 

“I care. You know that.” his voice was low, almost a whisper, and she could tell even with the stupid sunglasses that he was looking at her, a frown etched onto his face. 

“Yeah well sometimes you do a pretty shit show job of showing it.” she blew her bangs out of her eyes and let her legs slump forward, unfolding her bony knees and putting her feet in his lap. He heaved a visible sigh of relief. 

“I know. I'm sorry.” he paused “You have to stop drinking so much.”

“I know.” she bit her lip, smearing black lipstick onto her teeth “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have run off when you tried to take me home like that. It was fucked up." 

"Shit happens. I probably shouldn’t have let you come out while you were so fucked up about what Amporass did." 

"You can’t just keep me from doing things, Dirk. Even if they are admittedly shitty decisions." 

"I know. But someone has to look out for you. God fuckin’ knows neither of the authority figures in our lives are up to the job. I’m not exactly equipped either but someone has to try." 

Roxy looked up at him silently for a minute and nodded, stilted and quick, before suddenly plunging forward and burying her face in his neck. He sighed and gave into the hug, letting his thumb drift over her shoulder. 

"I love you, you know that right?” her voice is quiet, made quieter by the muffling of his skin and shirt, and she hopes he understands she’s telling him as a friend. She knows better than to hit on him, but he’s still her best friend, and she does love him. The motion of his thumb on her shoulder halts for just a moment before starting up again and Dirk nods, the movement brushing his chin against her hair. 

“I know.” he gets quiet again, for several seconds, before speaking so quietly even in the silent room she has to strain to hear him. if she weren't so used to picking out the cadence of his voice, she might have missed it altogether. “Me too.” She rolls her eyes but hugs him tighter for a second, before letting go and getting onto her knees to shove him. 

“Shit head.” she says with a laugh, and her face softens. “But I’ll take it." 

"Can we go home now? This bathroom is disgusting.” Dirk cocks an eyebrow and stands, offering a hand down to Roxy, who nods and accepts it. She tucks herself into his side and they take the back door out of the club, away from the crowds and people with cameras. 

Dirk has always been glad they keep their friendship out of the gossip columns. And really, for the most part, even their other friends don't know how close they really are. It's his doing more than hers. Part of the reason he keeps so quiet about it, about her, about the strange and complicated nature of their friendship, is everyone always wants him to explain it. And he just doesn’t know how. When someone asks why she’s allowed to steal his food or clothes or drape herself across him like a cat, when normally he’d never let someone do those things, he doesn’t know what to tell them. He doesn’t have the words for explaining that’s he’s seen her laying in a hospital bed, all skin and bones and shivering, more than halfway drunk and almost halfway dead, and that if stealing his food means she’s eating, and stealing his clothes means she’s warm, and laying across him means he knows she’s safe, his boundaries don’t mean anything anymore. He doesn’t know how to tell people that nothing matters like she matters and have them understand. 

He doesn’t even understand it all the time. At night when she rolls over in the bed they might as well call ‘theirs’ instead of ‘his’, and glances up at him half asleep, no make up on, her skin warm against his, he knows she is there and that is the only important thing. On some level, they both know this isn't normal. There's an element of 'too much' to their closeness. In the back of the hired car, Roxy makes a face at her phone, then curls into Dirk's side, burying her head in his shoulder. 

"Are you okay?" he reaches over and ruffles her hair, just barely. 

"Course I'm okay. You're here." 

She falls asleep after that, and doesn't even stir when he carries her into their house and tucks her into bed beside him.


	5. every song that i've ever loved

“Why are we going out again?”

“Because I’m bored and you get weird when I go to clubs by myself even if I promise not to drink.” Roxy rolled her eyes before resuming her pre-club beauty routine, staring intently into the mirror while she applied another coat of mascara. 

“Can’t we just go somewhere and hang out?” Dirk stared straight-faced at Roxy’s reflection. She sighed loudly and put down her mascara, spinning around with her hands on her hips. 

“Sure, Dirky, let’s go out to dinner in the broad daylight where a dozen photographers will come bother us and wonder why the ‘famously feuding Strilonde step siblings’ are having a casual meal together. Or let’s go to the movies or a show and I can get hounded by a bunch of strangers about why I broke that ‘poor sensitive Ampora boy’s heart’. Or, we would go hang out at a club, where it is dark and no one can tell who I am and you can lurk in a corner and drink orange soda because you hate fun.” she stuck her tongue out to punctuate her last point, and knowing she’d one, spun back around to apply lipstick. 

“Alright, but you can’t drink and when I want to split, we split.” 

“I already told you I wasn’t drinking, and it’s a deal as long as you stay at least an hour.” 

“Fine. Come find me when you’re ready to go, I’ll call a car.”

Roxy grinned and nodded, walking barefoot to her closet and flicking through dresses idly, studiously ignoring the buzzing from her phone. Her ex had been bothering her nonstop for days and she really didn’t want to deal with it. What she wanted to do was go dance in a dark room and maybe convince Dirk to come onto the dance floor for a turn or two. He hadn’t really gotten out at all after that one blonde surfer boy he’d dated awhile back has broke things off.

“You never know, Dirky Dirk, you might meet someone!” she sing songed as she slipped a skin tight pink skater dress over her head and leaned over to find shoes. 

“I told you, Rox, I’m not looking to meet anybody.” he rolled his eyes behind his shades and checked the arrival time for their Uber on his phone, leaning on the wall across from Roxy’s room. 

“That’s just what you tell people to shut them up.”

In reality, Dirk was telling the truth. Mostly, anyway. The truest answer would be ‘it’s complicated’, because it was. Sure, he’d dated a little. Their good friend Jake, the grandson of a famous computer programmer and designer, but things had fizzled out because Jake was off back packing more than he was in town, and they decided they’d always been better off as friends anyway. A few mostly unimportant guys he met at family parties, and his most recent paramour had been someone he met, oddly enough, through Roxy’s shitty ex-boyfriend, and largely to blame for Dirk’s current confusion. He’d really like Raleigh, he’d been short and fit and had messy blonde hair and a nice smile, but he’d always reminded him of something and he was never sure what, until Raleigh had dumped him and pointed it out. Raleigh had bore a striking number of similarities to one miss Roxy Lalonde. 

Dirk would be lying if he said he’d never wondered about it. Sure, he’d only ever been interested in boys, but he’d never liked the word gay much. And his friendship… bond.. whatever it was he had with Roxy, was completely unlike anything he’d ever shared with someone else. But he’d never even thought about broaching the subject, especially after he brought it up with an old friend once, and their reaction had hit a little too close to home. The friend had sat him down and said ‘Do whatever makes you happy. But think about it first. Do you love her? Or are you just afraid of being alone?’ 

He didn’t know if he’d ever be sure. 

“Ready when you are, stud.” Roxy swayed out of her room on her highest heels, grinning from ear to ear. Dirk was still taller than her, and he made a show of leaning his arms on top of her head, just barely smirking. “You’re the living worst.” she rolled her eyes, but grinned at him. 

“The car’s here if you want to take off.”

“Rad. Let’s roll. Party time!” she tugged him by the elbow, and because it was her he let it happen.

An hour comes and goes, and Dirk can’t bring himself to tell Roxy he wants to leave. There are no cameras pointed at her, she hasn’t even looked at the bar, twenty minutes in she’d abandoned her shoes at coat check and was jumping exuberantly around the dance floor, grinning madly as she bopped her head to the beat of the music. She just looks happy. And he smiles a little in the dark, because he likes seeing her like this. Not done up and dancing, that doesn’t matter, but the real her. The media knows what it thinks of both of them. Dirk Strider, the long suffering stoic step brother, put upon by irresponsible famous parents, took look after Roxy Lalonde, the ditzy, heart breaking party girl step sister. Sure, he was stoic, and Roxy liked going out, but he sure as hell didn’t mind looking after her (Someone had to and he didn’t trust anyone else) and she was so far from ditzy it wasn’t even funny. How the tabloids always conveniently forget she was attending school to double major in programming and English never ceased to baffle him. But happy, dancing Roxy reminded him of the person she always was, to him anyway. At three am in the Lalonde family ‘cottage’ in the Hamptons, in crooked knit socks half asleep on his shoulder watching bad movies. At two in the afternoon, hanging upside down off the couch in his t shirt and playing Mariokart. His best friend. 

Roxy, for her part, is intent on getting Dirk onto the dance floor once before he calls it a night. She waves at him frantically, watching him stare her down, and pulls out her best pout until she can see him start to crumble, and even though it’s dark and he’s far away she can feel him roll his eyes under his shades as he starts towards her. The song playing is one of her favorites, and she knows he has to recognize the familiar beat and the lyrics that blare from her phone whenever she gets a call. ‘And better have said it, but darling you’re the best. I’m just tired of falling up the penrose steps.’ 

Dirk pushes his way through the crowd with ease, but the closer he gets to Roxy, the more a strange feeling builds up in his gut. He ignores it, and lets her take his wrists and moves in easy rhythm with her. She grins, glad to have been humored, and twists on the balls of her feet, spinning her self out from him and laughing she he pulls her back in. 

She hits like ecstasy. Comes up and bangs the sense right out of me.

Suddenly, Dirk pulls Roxy to a standstill, and she looks up at him curiously. He just shakes his head and determinedly pulls her off the dance floor, stumbling slightly. She doesn’t bother asking what’s going on, she wouldn’t be able to hear his answer. She looks up at him again once he’s tugged her around a corner into an alcove by the VIP entrance. He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, releasing her wrists. He takes her face in his hands instead and leans down, catching her lips in a kiss. It only takes a moment for Roxy to lean into him, her arms circling around his neck and letting him pull her upwards. When he pulls back for air, Roxy stares at him wide eyed.

“This is a terrible idea.” she yelled over the music. 

“Probably.” he yelled back 

“Are you sure you want this?” her brow furrows as she tries to make herself heard. 

“As sure as I’ve ever been or will be.” he screams with a nod. 

“Okay.”

“Come home with me?” he asks, not in a yell, but by ducking his face next to her ear.

“I always go home with you, dumb ass.” she rolls her eyes, but smiles and nods. He kisses her again before letting her regain her balance, and they gather their things and slip out the front door, careful not to be seen

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I've been writing this fic in my head for over a year, and finally decided to sit down and Really Write it. Feedback is always appreciated. This chapter was a bit on the short side, it's more an intro than anything. Proceeding chapters are longer.


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